Clash of the Geeks
by Annadel
Summary: Willow is called in to help find Teyla before the Pegasus Galaxy becomes its own hell dimension. Now if only Rodney would back off enough to let her work.
1. Arrival

**Clash of the Geeks**

Summary: Willow is called in to help find Teyla before the Pegasus Galaxy becomes its own hell dimension. Now if only Rodney would back off enough to let her work.

Author's Notes: This is set just after the close of season four of Stargate Atlantis and roughly four years after the end of Buffy season seven. I haven't read the books and comics, so don't expect anything from those, at least not without it being a pure accident.

Disclaimer: I own neither Stargate Atlantis nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I am making no profit from this. I just got a nagging idea in the back of my mind that wouldn't leave me alone until it was on paper. Blame the plot bunnies.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

Despite her determination to present a professional front, Willow was practically bouncing as she prepared to transport down to Atlantis. She was moments away from standing in the legendary city of Atlantis! Who wouldn't be a bit excited? But more than that, she'd been cooped up on the ship for three whole weeks; she needed sunlight, wind, and seeing how it was Atlantis, water, and she was finding it increasingly hard to wait for the technician to activate the Asgard transporter instead of simply popping herself to the surface.

The telltale white light surrounded her just before she started into yet another mental babblefest about the government actually having spaceships with working faster than light drives. It would have made about the sixty-seventh such babble in the past week alone, so the diversion was welcome.

Willow blinked her eyes, trying to dispel the spots marring her vision while simultaneously trying to focus on the small greeting party standing a few feet away.

"Welcome to Atlantis," said the lovely blond woman standing at the head of the group. "I'm Colonel Samantha Carter. You've all been briefed on new personnel processing. These are your department heads," she continued, gesturing to a group of men and women standing off to her left. "I'll leave you to check in and get settled."

"Miss Rosenburg, I presume," Colonel Carter said, turning her attention to Willow.

"Just call me Willow, please Colonel."

"Well then, call me Sam, Willow," Carter replied. "If you'd come with me, I have a few questions."

"Sure thing."

Willow followed Sam and the three men with her up a flight of stairs and around the corner to an office that looked strangely organic for something made up of what looked like some kind of blue metal and glass. Sam sat behind the desk, so Willow assumed this was her office. Messy haired guy and the balding man sprawled on the couch while tall, dark, and brooding leaned against the wall and tried to look intimidating. It probably would have been effective too if she hadn't seen all the stuff she'd seen in the past decade or so.

Thinking back to the files she'd been given to read on the voyage, Willow figured messy haired guy had to be Colonel Sheppard. Balding guy was probably either McKay or Zelenka, but she was betting McKay based on the impatient vibes washing off him. And Mr. Broodypants just had to be Ronon. Note to self, never get Ronon and Angel in the same room.

Messy hair gestured toward a chair sitting somewhat off to the side of Sam's desk. "Go ahead. Take a load off," he said, and she did. It helped make her feel less like a bug in a jar with them all gawking at her.

"Willow, let me introduce Colonel John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, and Ronon," Sam began. "As I'm sure you were informed, they're the members of SGA-1 along with Teyla. We've been told you were sent to help us find and recover Teyla, but my command's been less than forthcoming with any sort of explanation on exactly _what_ you'll be doing to help. Would you mind filling us in?"

"They generally leave the explaining to us when we're asked to help out folks outside the know," Willow answered. "It cuts down on time wasting exclamations of disbelief and accusations of needing to be a loony bin if you have someone there who can provide proof instead of just trying to give visuals over the phone."

"We're already sitting in the lost city of Atlantis, on a different planet, in another galaxy," sniped McKay. "I think we're a little past being so easily shocked, so why don't you stop wasting my time and spit it out."

"Alright then Dr. McKay, I'll cut right to the chase." This was going to be fun. "The supernatural is real, and I'm a witch here to track down Telya using magic."


	2. Clash

**Chapter 2: Clash**

"Ha ha, very funny," McKay answered, the level of sarcasm being used almost twisting his expression into a sneer. Willow watched the near sneer morph into something she supposed was disbelief before he continued with a squeaky, "You can't be serious."

"I'm afraid I am, Dr. McKay," answered Willow. "Allow me to explain, and I will follow up with a demonstration as proof."

"You're not going to waste our time with this are you, Sam?"

"You said it yourself, Rodney," answered Sam. "We're in Atlantis in another galaxy. I'm willing to at least hear her out before passing judgment." Willow thought she heard McKay mumble something about dumb blonds while Sam nodded for her to continue.

"Our world is older than you know," Willow began, slipping into the familiar speech with ease. It was oddly comforting in a creepy kind of way. "And contrary to popular belief, it didn't start out as a paradise. The demons made it their home, their hell, until they were chased out, making way for mortal man. But the last to leave fed upon a human, mixing its blood with his. The man became a corpse possessed, the first vampire.

"Although the pure demons have left our dimension, there remain lesser demons, half-breeds, who walk the Earth causing destruction and many seeking to bring about hell on Earth once again. For this reason, a group of men sought a champion. They took a young girl and infused her with the power of a demon, creating the first vampire slayer.

"For thousands of years, there was just one girl in all the world chosen to receive the strength to hold the darkness at bay. When she died, another was called, and so the line continued on with each girl living a year, maybe two or three if she was lucky." Willow paused for a moment.

"I went to high school with one such girl. None of us were supposed to know what she did, but she kept me from becoming vamp chow, and I've never been one to do the willful suppression thing. So I started helping her. Eventually I came across texts dealing with magic and began my studies."

"I can't believe you're wasting our time with fairy tales!"

McKay was turning an interesting color in his irritation. Willow wasn't sure if it was a deep red or purple.

"Calm down, McKay," chided Sheppard. "I love a good yarn."

"How long have you been studying magic, Willow?" asked Sam as if McKay and Sheppard had never spoken.

"Since the end of my junior year of high school, so not quite nine years," Willow answered. "It doesn't sound like much, but I've been on the front lines in a war just as secret as yours for the past decade. I've had some impressive teachers, and I've had a ton of experience tracking individuals over the last four years."

"Who?"

Willow jumped at the new voice and turned to face Ronon. "Who what?"

"Who've you been tracking?"

Willow sighed. "Well, you see, there was this really big bad guy a few years back, and one slayer just wasn't enough. We found a way to activate all the girls with the potential to become slayers, and we did." Yep, there were the frowns. They had to believe her more than they were willing to admit if they were being all disapprovy about their activating the potentials, right? "It gave us the edge we needed to keep the world from ending, but it also left us with the responsibility of finding all those girls, so they could be trained."

"Why not leave them be instead of dragging them into your supposed war?" asked McKay.

"Slayers have an instinctive drive to go out and face what goes bump in the night," Willow answered. "It's a part of them, and we haven't found a way to shut it off. At least with training, they stand a chance of coming out of it alive. Plus, it cuts down on the likelihood they'll hurt themselves or someone else accidentally. Slayer strength, puberty, and PMS usually aren't very mixy things."

Sheppard and McKay shuddered.

"So, what you do some kind of hocus pocus, locate these girls, and then train them?" asked Sheppard.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Cool. Ever tracked someone across several light years?"

"Not personally, no," Willow answered, "but I know some people who tracked others through dimensions and different plains of existence. I'm pretty sure I can rig something up to give me enough of a boost to search at least a few systems at a time."

Exclamations of "Pretty sure?" and "Different plains of existence?" issued from the group.

"First off, we're not sure, but we think the beings you call the ascended Ancients and we call the PTB may be one and the same. They have a similar policy on not doing anything but making with the cryptic once in a while," Willow explained.

"Secondly, yes, pretty sure. It's not like there's a prewritten spell for magically tracking someone across star systems. I'll have to use what I know to create one, and there's generally not much with the knowing how it'll work until you actually do the spell. Magic's a science in a way, but there are more variables at play that tend to be more unpredictable than what you'd have in physics."

McKay scoffed, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "Science, my ass," and Willow began to see red.

"Perhaps the proof you referred to earlier would be in order, Willow," Sam interjected, effectively removing the redhead's anger from the broiler.

"Of course," Willow agreed. "Do you have a life signs detector on you, Dr. McKay?"

"No, of course not. It's not like I carry one around in my pocket all day unless we're on a mission."

"I routed my computer in just after I came to Atlantis," Sam answered. "I can pull up the program here."

"Please, if you would," Willow answered. "Turn the screen so you know this is me actually doing something instead of cheating over your shoulder."

Sam turned the monitor so all Willow could see was the back of it and confirmed that she was taped into the city's life signs detection program. Willow chanted one of her newer spells, tested just before she left the New Watcher's Council to board the ship to Atlantis, and a ghostly image of the gate room formed in front of her.

"Does this match what the life signs detector reads for the gate room?" Willow asked.

Sam tapped a few keys before looking between her screen and the image Willow created with wide eyes. "It does," she answered.

"Impossible!" McKay practically shot up from his seat on the couch and stalked over to Sam's desk, looking over her shoulder to the display. "L-lucky guess," he stammered. "Try the mess hall."

Willow concentrated on the schematics she'd memorized on the way to the city and waved her hand past the image like she was flipping an invisible page. An image of a crowded mess hall appeared before her. Sam and McKay studied the image she created and the display created by the city's sensors, looking back and forth several times as they double and triple checked.

"Okay, so maybe she's a human life signs detector," groused McKay. "How's that help us find Teyla seeing as she's not actually on this planet, let alone in the city?"

"This was merely a demonstration, Dr. McKay," said Willow. "I assure you, I have several other tricks up my sleeve."

"Yes, I'm certain you're very adept at pulling a rabbit out of your hat."

"I think that's enough for now," Sam interjected. "You all have work to do, and so do I. Personally, I've seen enough to give Willow the benefit of the doubt. If nothing else, her efforts couldn't hurt. So until she actually hinders your work or the search for Teyla, I expect you all to leave her be." McKay acted as if he was about to object, again, but Sam cut him off with a curt, "Dismissed."

"How long will you need to prepare?" Sam asked, turning her attention back to Willow as the men filed out of the room.

"I believe I have something worked out that'll work," answered Willow. "It was a long flight. I just need some time to rebuild my reserves because this is going to be one big spell, so I'd say about forty-eight hours."

"Come on then. I was just about to go grab a cup of coffee. I'll show you to your room on the way, and you can get settled."


	3. Breakfast of Questions

**Chapter 3: Breakfast of Questions**

The next morning, Sam headed toward the commissary in search of some nice, strong coffee. Maybe she just needed a jolt of her old friend caffeine to make the situation with Willow Rosenburg make sense. She was obviously either slightly delusional, or whatever organization she was apart of had a worse cover story than Stargate Command. Magic? Please! It had to be some form of advanced tech or bioengineering the group stumbled across at some point in its history and either didn't fully understand or thought it'd be funny to use the hokier bits of Earth's mythology as a cover.

In any case, Miss Rosenburg had yet to show any sign of harboring anything other than helpful intentions. She hadn't gotten in anyone's way, and her orders had been specific.

"Believe what she says. Do what she asks." Sam remembered the unusual message. It wasn't often they received such blanket orders of compliance. The second message that arrived shortly after her meeting with Willow the day before was even more baffling. "Don't under any circumstances try running any experiments involving Miss Rosenburg or what she does. If her hair and eyes turn black and dark veins become visible on her skin, call Stargate Command for backup immediately unless you tried experimenting, in which case, you're on your own."

She was beginning to wish she'd never taken the assignment to Atlantis.

Sam entered the commissary and made her way to the coffee immediately. She'd only intended to get her morning pick-me-up and head on to her office, but her stomach grumbled in response to the smell of food, reminding her how bad an idea skipping breakfast usually turned out to be. Those mornings always turned out to be the busiest, and she rarely found time to even attempt eating again until mid-afternoon. Sam wasn't a superstitious person, but being one to count preparedness the better part of valor, she made her way over to the food and gathered herself a plate of eggs, toast, and fruit.

A waving hand caught her attention when she turned to scan the room for an empty seat only to realize the subject of her confusion was trying to call her over. Deciding there was no time like the present to have a few questions answered, Sam walked over to the table where the redhead was picking at a sticky bun and yogurt covered fruit salad. She squashed the flicker of reminiscent jealously of a youthful metabolism as she sat down.

"Good Morning, Willow," she said. "How was your first night in Atlantis?"

"Oh it was fine," answered Willow. The girl appeared to nearly bounce in her seat. Sam thought it was probably a good thing the younger woman had chosen milk over coffee. If she was this full of energy with just the beginnings of a sugar rush, she didn't think she'd want to see the girl highly caffeinated. "It took me a bit to figure out how to block all the ambient energy here in the city, it's fairly thrumming with it, but once I was able to do that, I slept like a baby."

Sam raised an eyebrow at the phrase ambient energy and logged it away as something to ask about later. Right now she had other things she needed to ask the "witch."

"I'm glad to hear it," Sam replied. "Actually, I'd just been thinking about coming to find you. I received a secondary set of orders regarding your visit yesterday, and I have a few questions if you don't mind."

"Go ahead, but I can't guarantee I'll answer all of them," Willow answered. "After all, my organization has classified information of its own."

"Of course." Sam took a long sip of her coffee, stalling to consider her words, before continuing. "I was ordered to not even think of asking to run some diagnostics on how you do what you do. Not that it would be my first course of action anyway since asking is generally a better way of learning from allies, but it is a rather unusual order. Do you mind if I ask why they might include that one?"

"A faction of the U.S. government went mad scientist in our backyard a few years back," Willow explained after finishing the bite she'd just taken. "It's kind of a sore spot for our group, so when we decided getting past our distrust and forming an alliance based on our terms would be in our best interest, a clause preventing any and all forms of experimentation on any of our personnel or regarding any of their abilities was a major focus of our negotiating team."

"And I bet I know what faction too," Sam grumbled. "I'm so sorry you had that problem, Willow. Please be assured you won't have it with me or my people. If we want to know something, we'll ask."

"Thank you."

"You mentioned the fact that there are what sounds like a large number of impressionable young girls out there with superpowers yesterday," Sam continued. "For all that we're allies, you don't know us. Weren't you worried we'd inform our superiors?" She took a small bite of eggs, making sure to swallow before continuing. "There are some unscrupulous politicians out there who would stop at nothing for that kind of power."

"Well, I said we approached the government with something of a help exchange deal," Willow began. "What I didn't say is we did it mostly to avoid them trying to 'help' out in our area of expertise again and in case we came across something that belonged in their jurisdiction. Back when they were doing experiments on supernatural creatures, they were looking for ways of controlling them or outright destroying them if they couldn't be controlled. It eventually went kablooie, capital k, capital blooie, in their face, and we had to go in and pull their hinnies out of the fire."

Willow paused for a sip of her milk.

"They got out of town and stayed out of our business for the most part after that, but my friends and I were on their radar. We didn't learn this until about the time we approached them with the deal, but they'd been keeping us all under surveillance. So they knew about the army of mini-slayers when they were formed."

Sam felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Kinsey and the N.I.D. knowing about super-powered girls in existence across the globe with no knowledge of their powers and no protection. She hoped Willow's bunch had found them before those jerks go their slimy hands on them.

"A hands off clause with explicit descriptions of retaliatory measures regarding any and all of our personnel was another point we were insistent upon including in the agreement," Willow continued. "It works both ways actually. We'll help if we can, baring apocalypse season, but our people cannot be pressed into service or attempted to be placed under the government's control by any means. The government's been pretty good about keeping up their agreement to help in the instance or two we've needed them, and we never try keeping your people or forcing the few who have some magical potential to learn if they don't want to."

"What if one of your people decided they wanted a change of career that included joining a military branch or project?"

"We'd run a standard check to make sure they weren't being compelled, but they're free to do what they want." Willow seemed slightly offended. "We're there to protect and aid the slayers, not control them. That was the old organization's stick."

"Old organization?"

"Big bunch of megalomaniacal, old control freaks with more money and power than humanity," Willow answered. "The biggest of the big bads we've faced so far made them go blooie about four years ago. That's when we took over and reformed what was left."

Sam seriously wished she hadn't asked, but at least she didn't have to worry about any IOA spies or corrupt brass hearing about the slayers and sending the N.I.D. after them. The two ate in silence for a few minutes before Sam remembered the last bit of her orders.

"Willow?"

The witch looked up with a questioning expression and gestured for Sam to go on.

"There was a warning attached to my orders." Willow's eyes shadowed slightly, but she didn't stop Sam. "It said that if your hair and eyes turned black and dark veins became visible across your skin, we're to call Stargate Command for backup immediately. Why would they send that kind of message?"

"You've heard the phrase, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely?'" Sam nodded. "Magic's just another form of power, and one that's both seductive and addictive, especially the darker magics. The symptoms you described are the outward signs someone's being taken over by the magic. We've seen it once, and it wasn't pretty.

"When I left, we still weren't sure what kind of magics I'd have to tap into, how much power I'd need to channel, and we still don't know if being in a different galaxy will have any effect on my abilities." Willow's expression was one Sam could only describe as achingly sincere. "Like most, my control wasn't the best when I was getting started, but I've trained hard to make sure I have an iron control over the magic these days instead of it seeping the other way around. The warning is merely precautionary."


	4. Place Your Bets

**Chapter 4: Place your bets.**

"You're not seriously going to let her try this," McKay nearly screeched as he stormed into Sam's office the next morning. She'd have to be both blind and deaf to miss the incredulity in his voice and manner.

"I see you got the message regarding Willow's plans."

"Of course," answered McKay. "Tell me you're not going to let her tap into the gate system with whatever kaka meme technology she's trying to pass off as hocus pocus."

"Your concerns are noted, Rodney," Sam answered, absently trying to create order from the chaos of papers scattered over her desk. "But Willow will be allowed to make the attempt."

"Do you have any idea of the damage she could do to our systems? She could be another plant for all we know!" McKay was starting in on one of his rants, red face and failing arms included. Yep, definitely should have turned the Atlantis position down. How could she have forgotten how annoying this guy could be? Sure, he'd grown up a bit, but McKay was McKay.

"Miss Rosenburg has yet to show any malicious intent, and my orders were specific," Sam continued with what she was trying to establish as her "final" tone. It hadn't worked so well thus far. "Besides Rodney, her 'kit' consists of nothing other than lots of herbs, candles, and a bunch of small crystals. She graciously allowed the crystals to be checked. They're all blank, only worked enough to remove the majority of impurities. And we're going to have four technicians stationed to monitor the gate and city systems as the 'spell' progresses. One wrong move, and we'll shut it down."

"Oh."

"Seriously, Rodney," Sam continued, rising from her desk and walking to the door. "I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, curious even, not stupid."

A stammering Rodney followed her from the office. "I-I wasn't trying to imply…"

"I know, Rodney," answered Sam. "You've really got to work on your delivery."

"Jennifer's helping," grumbled McKay, "but it's taking a while to undo forty years of ingrained bad habits."

"Maybe she just needs to find a more effective method of positive reinforcement," she answered. "Or does negative reinforcement work better with you, McKay?"

Sam allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk as she left a stunned and sputtering McKay in the dust. Atlantis had its share of headaches and not much in the way of entertainment. No one could blame her for amusing herself now and again, could they?

……………………………..

Willow was just finishing the prep work for her first attempt at the mega location spell when Sam arrived with the male members of SGA-1. She double checked her work, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She definitely didn't want a repeat of that one time in Brazil.

"I thought I'd let you explain to the team," said Sam. "I believe I caught most of it, but I thought you'd likely do a better job fielding any inevitable questions."

"Sure," Willow answered. "Did you bring the star chart?"

"It's permanently stationed up on the observation deck," answered Sam. "We'll need to determine your range with this first attempt, so I thought it best to use the more complete map."

"You mean that fragile looking one?" Sam nodded, and Willow fought the urge to fidget. _Oh, no pressure. Just go and give me an irreplaceable ancient artifact to use instead of a bit of paper._

"Is that a problem?"

"It shouldn't be," Willow answered. _I hope. I hope. I hope._ "But I may need to bleed off a bit of excess energy into the city's systems if I get an unexpected jolt thanks to being on a different planet…or the only magic user on said planet for that matter."

"Exactly what does _that_ have to do with anything?" asked McKay.

"I have power reserves in my body I can use to power simple spells," Willow explained. "But, I'm going to need to tap into the inherent energy of the planet to fuel a spell this large. I'm accustomed to sharing the planet's energy with thousands of other magic users on Earth. Theoretically it will take a stronger pull to get the same amount of energy from a world where there are lots of people tapping into the system than if I'm running a monopoly." Shepard and Ronon were giving her completely blank looks. How to explain this differently?

"Okay, think of it like this. I have a cousin who plays clarinet. It's an instrument played by forcing air past a thin piece of wood called a reed," she explained for Ronon's benefit. "She told me about this one time where all her reeds got these little cracks at the ends, and she was trying to save every little scrap of money she could for a car. So, she trimmed the ends of her reeds a little and got used to playing by pushing the air just a bit harder. Eventually the reeds chipped again, and she didn't have a choice but to buy new ones. After getting so used to playing the thicker reeds where she had to push harder to make any sound at all, she played way too loud for a few days with the new reeds until she relearned how to back off." _Wow, do I always gesticulate that much when I babble out loud?_

"So, you're afraid you'll pull in a lot more power here than you would on Earth because the resistance is thinner," said Ronon.

"Exactly!"

"Whatever," interrupted McKay. "What exactly are you expecting us to believe you're going to do?"

"The stuff you see around me is mostly used as a method of focusing will and intent as well as a bit of protection against backlash," Willow explained. _What was with Mr. Grumpypants? He seriously needed a girlfriend or something._ "I'll be drawing energy from the planet to create a tracking spell to go out in search of Teyla using the necklace borrowed from her room as a reference for her unique essence. The gate comes in as a way to expand the range of the spell without having to pull catastrophic amounts of power I'd have no hope of ever controlling."

"You do know we can only dial one planet at a time right?" asked Shepard.

"Well, you step in one gate and come out another, but I also know about the forwarding system, Colonel," answered Willow. "The spell's different in the fact that it can flow out from all the gates dialed in between, bringing back information on all those systems, instead of simply being forwarded to the terminus."

"Come on!" groused McKay. "This is a waste of time and energy I could be putting to better use."

"Care to put your money where you're mouth is, Dr. McKay?"

"How?" McKay asked.

"Give me three weeks, and this isn't precluding you all searching the old fashioned way mind you," answered Willow. "If I successfully find Teyla with my 'waste of time,'" she paused to think for a moment. What would be suitably embarrassing for the scientist who needed a lesson in humility and manners? She grinned as a thought occurred to her. "You have to be a contestant on Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader."

Shepard and Carter looked like they were fighting not to laugh at the idea while McKay became increasingly flustered, and Ronon just looked confused. Rodney composed himself after a moment and crossed his arms over his chest in what was obviously a shielding mechanism meant to be disguised as a macho gesture.

"Fine," he answered shortly. "But if you can't find her in three weeks, you have to be my personal assistant for a month."

"Deal," Willow agreed, visibly surprising the Atlantis staff. "Now, how about we get this show on the road?"

Sam nodded, and Shepard included, "You heard the lady," as they backed away from the stargate. The technician started the dialing sequence, and Willow watched in fascination as the chevrons locked. She jumped as the famed kawoosh erupted from the gate before collapsing back into a real, live stable wormhole. Neat.

Willow walked back to her setup and lit the candles sitting at the four corners of the map while chanting the spell. She could feel her own power building before she opened herself to the planet's energy. It was different and yet the same as that of Earth, and she reached for it, pulling tentatively at first and then with greater strength as she adjusted to the difference. She aimed the seeker at the stargate, giving it the instructions to search and return before letting it fly.

There was a surge of the purest energy she'd ever encountered the moment the seeker ball passed through the event horizon. Luckily the power gain leveled off almost instantly, or Willow was sure she would have physically exploded on the spot leaving a nice gory mess for the Atlantis crew to clean up. She was completely jazzed on the energy as it was, almost drunk with it. She had to bleed some of it off somewhere, but where? Would she fry the Atlantis systems if she tried to push it into the city? Deciding she'd better not chance it, Willow did the only thing she could think to do. She pushed the energy back through the gate system, expanding the forwarding range.

Willow was oblivious to the chaos going on behind her. Sam and SGA-1 stood amazed first at the light show building around Willow before the swirls of light coalesced into a single point of light and went zooming through the gate. Then they watched in a mixture of awe and growing horror as the redhead's hair went snowy white from the roots to ends. Their attention was pulled away as half panicked calls of a surge in the gate system echoed in the large room.

Sam was halfway through shouting, "Shut it down," when the ball of light returned and the gate shut down of its own accord. All eyes followed the glowing mass as it floated toward the map, progress slowing, until it splashed against the surface. It formed a glowing ring.

"What are we seeing?" asked Sam.

"It's showing the boundaries of where it reached," answered Willow. "As we kinda expected, Michael isn't holding Teyla anywhere near Atlantis. That's why we don't see an orangey going dot, just the outline."

"How far did it cover?" asked Shepard.

"It looks like a radius of about 4,326 lightyears," McKay answered. His expression and tone were clearly stunned. "It's not much in galactic terms, but…"

"Way better than searching on foot," finished Ronon.

"So, where to next?" asked Shepard.

"We can build a search pattern using the range available and start systematically checking off regions," answered Sam. "How quickly can you be ready to try again?" she asked Willow.

"Even with that extra push the gate system shocked me with there, I doubt I could manage more than one of those spells a day, and that's if I don't do any other magic at all," Willow answered.

"Extra push?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah, as soon as the spell touched the event horizon, I got hit with a jolt of energy from the gate," she explained. "I thought about channeling it into the city's systems, but I was afraid I might fry them. So I sent it back through the gate to push the boundaries out a bit further."

"So that's why your hair did the instant bleach job thing?"

Willow felt her face heat up, and knew she was probably as red as she hoped her hair was again. "Yeah."

"Weird," mused Shepard.

Ronon turned to Sam. "What's Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?"


End file.
